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In this mailing:
by Soeren Kern
• June 28, 2015 at 5:00 am
- James
McConnell's prosecution is one of a growing number of examples in
which British authorities — who routinely ignore incendiary speech
by Muslim extremists — are using hate speech laws to silence
Christians.
- "My
church funds medical care for 1,200 Muslim children in Kenya and
Ethiopia. I've no hatred in my heart for Muslims... I believe in
freedom of speech. I'm going to keep on preaching the gospel. I have
nothing against Muslims, I have never hated Muslims, I have never
hated anyone. But I am against what Muslims believe. They have the
right to say what they believe in and I have a right to say what I
believe." — James McConnell, Pastor.
- "Since
the Islamic State took over, it [Mosul] has become the most peaceful
city in the world." — Raied Al-Wazzan, Executive Director,
Belfast Islamic Center. Al-Wazzan is now trying to leverage the
controversy over McConnell's remarks to shame local politicians into
providing him with free public land to build a mega-mosque.
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Pastor James McConnell of Belfast: "I have no
regrets about what I said. I do not hate Muslims, but I denounce Islam
as a doctrine and I make no apologies for that. I will be pleading 'not
guilty' when I stand in the dock in August."
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An evangelical Christian pastor in Northern Ireland is being
prosecuted for making "grossly offensive" remarks about Islam.
James McConnell, 78, is facing up to six months in prison for
delivering a sermon in which he described Islam as "heathen"
and "satanic." The message was streamed live on the Internet,
and a Muslim group called the police to complain.
According to Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service (PPS),
McConnell violated the 2003 Communications Act by "sending, or
causing to be sent, by means of a public electronic communications
network, a message or other matter that was grossly offensive."
Observers say that McConnell's prosecution is one of a growing
number of examples in which British authorities — who routinely ignore
incendiary speech by Muslim extremists — are using hate speech laws to
silence Christians.
by Burak Bekdil
• June 28, 2015 at 4:00 am
- Sinirlioglu,
a career diplomat, happens to be one of President Erdogan's most
senior confidantes -- a smart diplomat with no Islamist sentiments.
- If the
terribly destroyed fences between Ankara and Jerusalem are to be
mended, this is a good time to start the work.
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The Israeli press last week reported that Israel's
Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold (R) held a secret meeting
in Rome with Turkey's top career diplomat, Foreign Ministry
Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu (L).
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For Turkey's Islamist government, breaking up with Israel, a
credible regional ally until 2009, was a calculated move. Then Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's famous Davos tirade against Israel's then
President Shimon Peres was the beginning of Turkey's willing road
accident with the Jewish state: a systematic campaign based on
anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic rhetoric and action that would capture
votes at home and help Turkey powerfully emerge with its neo-Ottoman
ambitions on the Arab Street. It did, leaving no appetite in Ankara for
détente -- at least, until June 7, 2015.
When the Turks went to the ballot box on June 7, they did not know
that the way they voted would not only deprive the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP), of its parliamentary majority for the first time
since 2002, but that it could also forcefully remind the government that
it might be about time to revise its nearly bankrupt foreign policy,
including relations with Israel.
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